Someone…or something…has been biding its time – The Republic Dominion of Cyrillia

[Travot Ravenna]

VCX Freighter Plainswalker, outskirts of the Cyrillia System

He could almost hear the characteristic "pop" of the magcon field as his ship slipped into the hangar of the asteroid base. His emerald eyes darted around, picking out the individual models of the junked starships and trashed droids which littered the carved rock floor. Yet curiously, he had not seen anyone. He deftly guided the Plainswalker to settle down next to one of the base's original medrunners, which now rested on the floor in two pieces. A slight tremor vibrated throughout the ship as it landed.

"At least you're not bad at landing this piece of junk," commented the sergeant next to him, "you can do that well."

Travot turned his head to the man and raised an eyebrow, "Better than my flying?"

The armored man nodded, "By a factor of ten."

"Always good to see the positive side of things," replied Travot, rising from his seat.

If I only actually felt that way right now. His hands sank down to either side, each of them resting on a well-worn weapon. On his left, he felt the checkered wooden slabs of his blaster pistol's grip. His right felt the cold, cylindrical form of his deceased master's lightsaber. He found the grip a little small for his liking, but he found a certain comfort in simply holding the weapon, even if he wasn't as proficient in its use as he would have liked to have been. He followed the sergeant out of the cockpit, through the hold, and down the ramp. The boarders were forming up in mixed groups of sailors and marines. Tens, a stout sailor, turned and faced him.

"You sticking with us son?"

Ravenna hesitated, "It's probably for the best. Do you have room in your group?"

"Absolutely," replied the petty officer, waving the man into their little huddle, "guys, this is Travot. Travot, this is my fire team: Kyrn, Brandei, Tips, and well, you know me, sort of."

Ravenna let a wry grin cross his face. This man...The petty officer looked at Ravenna's waist curiously, "Is that a lightsaber?"

Travot nodded, "I'm afraid I'm not very good at it yet-"

"Dude, you turn that thing on, and I bet you twenty credits that any, er...excuse my language...karker that we face is going to flee in terror. Your presence as a Jedi is weapon in and of itself."

He nodded. I wish I felt that way. I guess we'll find out how true that is soon enough...They formed up in their stack right before they entered one of the service corridors that ran deeper into the asteroid base. He fell right behind Kyrn, a broad-shorted humanoid of some sort who wore a full suit of Warden-class body armor and wielded an impressively large blaster to boot. Travot pulled Jeth's lightsaber from his belt and grasped its long handle with both handles with the Soresu grip that he had practiced so much, but had never used in combat. As they entered a dark hallway, he felt oddly at peace despite an errant thought in his head that consistently reminded him that he might die. But they have to get through Kyrn first...that should take some doing...

 

[Zak Dymo]

Location: Vermillion Championship Podracing Rally
Objective: Scrap the plan, just BLOW SOMETHING UP!
Allies: [member="Nefertari Sovint"]

---

The chronometer was counting down. The minutes dwindled to seconds, and seconds ticked by toward destruction. The small Nautolan trembled anxiously in the shadow of the Chandrillan knight, trusting in blind faith that the adult woman would be able to make everything all right. Because that's what adults were supposed to do. Heck, that was the only reason younglings put up with adults. They had the awesome Jedi power to banish the boogeyman, make the hurt stop, or soothe the nightmares from the mind.

And Zak was afraid. Afraid for the fact that he was getting old enough to believe that adults couldn't fix everything, and maybe Nefertari wouldn't be able to stop the bomb from hurting everyone in the stadium.

She was a little afraid too.

"Zak, do you think you can launch this thing into the air?"

She wanted him to play ForceBall with a bomb? Granted, Zak was only nine years old but, still... that didn't seem like a very smart idea to him. And, besides, that bomb was a lot bigger than a typical ForceBall pitch. Plus, no game of ForceBall involving Nautolan ended except in something getting broken. Usually several somethings.

"I dunno..." the youngling began to whimper, his black eyes directed at a spot on the floor as he turned his head down.

"...we have no choice but to detonate it."

Detonate.

The boy's head-tails bounced as the child's head snapped up, his eyes blinking at the drop of one of his favorite words.

They were blowing something up? Well, that was an entirely different something. Like fireworks, which was another thing the youngling wasn't supposed to touch. Which was just one of the reasons why he loved them. "You wanna play rough? Okay!" the green-skinned boy chirped brightly, bouncing forward as he prepared to launch the bomb.

Doing a series of large arm circles, the diminutive Nautolan loosened up his right shoulder as he prepared for the pitch. "The wind up..." the boy uttered, in a sing-song voice, as he made an upward 'scoop' gesture. There was an audible vibration in the air as the bomb-crate shook before it leapt up into the air as though propelled by some invisible cannon.

Taking a step forward, the boy moved with the motion of the Force he had just set into motion. Setting his left palm behind his right, the boy pushed himself up on the tips of his toes as he stretched to his full length. "...and the pitch!" the youngling declared, as a second Force Push came behind the first. The telekinetic wavefront slammed into bomb, sending it soaring upward like a rocket. An open ventilation grate went flying, as debris from the ceiling rained down in a shower of plaster dust.

She wanted the bomb airborne? Now, it was airborne.

And, also, now there was a skylight in the men's refresher. But Zak had just done what his master had told him, so... if he was in trouble for this, he assumed she would be too.

Did padawans serve detention with their masters when that happened? Did Jedi Knights even get detention?

It would kind of be depressing if that was the case.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Location: Vermillion Championship Podracing Rally
Objective: Blow the box to smithereens
Allies: [member="Zak Dymo"]

The wind up...and the pitch!
The Nautolan launched the bomb into the air. Sure, there was a hole in the roof now; but it was better than lost lives.
"Atta boy, Zak!" Nefertari said, whipping out a blaster.
The styling of the armament indicated that it hadn't been Nef's to begin with.
"Lock on" The Jedi fired six bolts at the box, all of them hit and the crate exploded in midair.
The spectators in the stands cheered.
"Good job, young padawan. Our objective is complete"
In all likelihood, security would be showing up soon

 

[Zak Dymo]

Location: Vermillion Championship Podracing Rally
Objective: Convince master that ice cream is a time-honored, important Nautolan cultural icon after exploding things
Allies: [member="Nefertari Sovint"]

---

"Good job, young padawan."

The explosion was reflected in the boy's black eyes, almost like they were mirrors. As his master spoke, the youngling turned in preparation for stating his case. He had put a lot of thought into this. There were many angles from which to address it as well. He could feign ignorance, or make some assertion that he'd only been doing what she'd told him, or even go for the 'it wasn't me' defense. So, as his mouth dropped open, the boy paused as her words actually sank in.

Did... she just say 'good job'?

The words that the Nautolan had prepared dried up on the boy's tongue as he realized that he wasn't in trouble. He actually wasn't sure what to say at being told he'd done a good job... No one ever said that to him. Usually, the only thing he was good at was tearing holes in the roof.

Which, ironically, seemed to work to their advantage in this case...

"Our objective is complete," the Chandrilla knight declared, looking down at the boy.

The amphibian youth was just left in her shadow, completely in awe and speechless at having been told that he'd done a good job by wrecking something. It was possible that some small part of him was offended by that as well. How was he supposed to maintain his reputation if he did a good job?

Wait, the objective was complete? Was she saying that the mission was over?

It was then that the boy got an idea.

And not just any idea, but a wonderful, diabolical, juvenile idea. A sly smile crept across the youngling's face, as he looked back up at the Chandrilla noblewoman. "You know, Master, on... on Glee Anselm, we... we, like, celebrate explod-a-tory things with ice cream," the Nautolan lied glibly. He was quite adept at weaving stories, particularly when doing so would net him some ice cream.

What kind of flavors would ice cream shops on a terrestrial world like Cyrillia carry anyway? Would they have Salted Seaweed? Caramel Krill? Electric Berry Eel? "It's, like, this totally ancient Nautolan custom. Very important to us," the youngling continued, bouncing along beside the woman as he continued. "It goes back to the, uh... uh...."

Crap. He needed to think of some old battle.

Think. Think. All those dumb battles they lectured about in history class. It was like history was nothing but one battle after another. With that kind of immersion, he ought to be able to think of something.

"...Hyper..."

Hyper what? There was some ancient battle that involved hyper-something, right?

"The, uh, Hyperdrive Wars," the child uttered at last. Was that right? That was right, right? Aw, poodoo, he'd totally bombed his last history test. And the one before that. And... yeah... there was really no need to talk about his report card in general.

"Yeah... When Nautolan Jedi knights celebrated the Battle of Glee Anselm with ice cream," the youngling remarked, feigning seriousness as he told the tale. "In fact, as part of, like... as part of the tradition, the... the Jedi knight, she's... like, she's supposed to buy the ice cream for her pada----"

As the boy spoke, a squad of armed, uniformed soldiers burst into view. They were obviously what passed on this world as the police. Or the militia. Heck, they could be the national guard. In any event, in short order, Zak found a variety of blasters pointed at him by people who were probably upset that there was hole in their bathroom roof now.

"HOLY MOTHER OF MYNOCK MILK!" the youngling exclaimed, jumping back behind Nefertari.

It wasn't that he was afraid... he was just... making tactical use of the terrain.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Orick T'ane"]

The blast door hissed and spat as the lightsaber made the excruciatingly slow journey through the frame. Jacen stood awkwardly, his head turned away from the blaze. A lightsaber didn't use magic to cut through the thick metal doors, designed to withstand the power of many kinds of attack. It superheated the metal until it melted; heated to a temperature that radiated enough to burn his face to a crisp.

A marine stood behind him, holding a sheet of metal across his face to shield him from the worst of the heat. Next time, he'd wear a damn full cover helmet. There were Jedi who could manipulate energy, and specifically, absorb heat. He wasn't one of them.

Jacen grunted with the exertion of finishing the process. He stepped back and admired his handiwork. The force attacking had been delayed at the cargo bay due to some rigged explosives, it was imperative that they made quick progress now.

"They're waiting for us,", Jacen stated to a nearby Sergeant, feeling their proximity and anticipation through the Force.

"As expected, you'd best step back," the marine replied. A pair of sappers had laid thermal charges along the bulkhead ready to blow the magnetic clamps on the blast door. Jacen's cut had merely separated the clamps holding the two halves together.

Voidstalker took cover a few moments before the small explosions left his ears ringing. Several soldiers took aim as the blast doors slid open, edges still glowing a deep orange along the edges. Almost instantly several grenades were fired down the corridor. Several were frag were fired down its length into the defenders, others filled the corridor with smoke. A myriad of green and red blaster bolts leapt back at them, but it slowed to a trickle as the grenades did their work. Jacen brought his saber up, and headed to work once more.

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Ravenna edged forward in the hewn rock corridors, almost stumbling over a broken stretcher. Kryns had fell behind him, as the jedi was proving to having an easier time guiding them through the darkness. While not remotely comfortable in taking the lead, Travot took some comfort in the blast vest that Tens had loaned him. Still, it felt like more of a security blanket than any actual shield. A quiet outburst from behind him grabbed his attention.

"It's hella dark here," muttered Tens, "should have brought a glow torch here."

A brief smile flourished across his face. He's right. Kark it. Travot flicked the switch on the lightsaber hilt. The blade sizzled to life, casting an eerie pale glow to reveal the corridor in front of them. Whoever had taken up residence in the base had barely cleaned it up; he could see broken medical equipment and droids lined up against both edges of the corridor. Bits of wrappers and trash littered the floor. How could they live here in this mess? Maybe they weren't planning on staying here long...

"I knew there was a reason I brought you with," remarked Tens cheerfully, "you brought the glowrod!"

Travot weakly smiled as he advanced down the corridor to a half-shut door. Suddenly, it swung fully open to reveal a dark humanoid silhouette wielding a long cylindrical object. That's too big to be a blaster- Before he could fully register the thought, a loud pop and a brief flash of light echoed from the unknown figure. Travot could barely register a dark ball surging towards them. Instinctively, he raised his left hand, felt the Force pulse through him, and then jump out towards the object as a concussive blast. The grenade flew back towards its sender before it exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

That moment seemed to have taken an eternity, but suddenly he found his heart pounding harder then ever before. He whipped his blue blade around him in the tight arcs of Soresu, deflecting a new stream of blaster bolts that emerged from the door. Behind him, Kyrn hit the deck and began snapping off sporadic shots at the doorway. He felt his feet turn to hardening duracrete, even as deadly light flashed around him. But I can't stay here...He felt a brief moment of panic wash over him before he remembered his master's words: Train as you fight, fight as you train. Ravenna took a step forward as he swung his blade to meet a crimson bolt. He heard the crackle of the blade before he drove it to the ground in front of him, just as he had done to the hundreds, maybe thousands of bolts, he had faced from the training remotes on Ossus. Another blaster bolt flew straight at him. He brought his blade vertically to his centerline. The bolt smacked into the blue blade before flying back towards its sender. Travot continued his slow but methodical advance, swinging his blade rapidly around his large form to deflect the incoming fire. He heard Kyrn's armored feet now clattering behind him, and watched as bolts streamed from behind him to lash out at their attackers. More streams of blaster bolts came from behind him as the rest of his team entered the fight. Enemy blaster fire seemed to slacken against their assault, but as the jedi and the Republic soldiers neared the door frame, he barely registered that fact. His eyes could focus on the corpse splayed out in front of him.

 

[H3xle]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Orick T'ane"]

(OOC: Just gonna step in here)


Jarin set the metal plate aside that he had used to shield Jacen from the heat of the lightsaber melting through the door. He had offered the Jedi his helmet, but was refused. He liked the guts in this Jedi, not quite your standard set that you see in Force users through the Republic. This one seemed...saltier, like he'd done time as a grunt before he started mucking about with the powers of the 'verse.

Jarin knelt around a corner while the sappers set off the blast charges, his rifle aimed down the hall. As soon as Jarin felt the subsonic whump of the charges going off, he half stepped, half slid on his knee until his left shoulder was braced at the corner and he had a sight line down his rifle's scopes and into the hallway beyond. Other soldiers threw and fired grenades, Jarin laid suppressing fire down on the hallway. The one problem with a thrown grenade, there was the possibility of throwing it back. Laying down suppressing fire kept people away from the grenades long enough for them to go off. Several of the enemy troopers hadn't seemed to notice the grenades until it had been to late, being as they were to busy trying to return fire on Jarin and several other soldiers doing similar work.

The blaster fire slackened after the grenades went off. Jacen strode into the hallway and began to do the Jedi thing.

'Karking with reality.' Jarin thought to himself as he saw the Jedi bat bolts of plasma from the air, some being sent back down the hallway to their origination points, while others were deflected into the walls around him. 'Still, it's mighty impressive...'

"Up and out, don't let the Jedi have all the fun. Keep his flanks clear." Jarin said over his squad channel, stepping up and out into the hallway, his body molded around his blaster in the walking firing position that had been drilled into him so very long ago. Every few steps he would shift his position to the side a bit and speed up or slow down at irregular times to mess with anyone trying to get a bead on him. The whole while he stayed just outside of swinging range of Jacen's lightsaber on his left side. He chose his targets with more care than he had when laying suppressing fire. He sent a few bolts into some grunts that tried to sneak around using a side passage. He received a glancing blow to his armored pauldron, the scent of it filled his nostrils until his helmets filters pulled it from the air around him. He'd likely have to replace that pauldron, from how much of the burnt smell he had gotten, it might have been more than a glancing blow.

(Writer post count: 5)

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Jarin Eldaro"]

One thing Jacen had learned from years of soldiering, was that the number of blue on blue deaths was far greater than ever reported. It was an event mitigated against, but never fully prevented. Going first down the corridor will bolts lancing right past him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

There was a heady mix of emotions from the soldiers around him: both friend and foe. The fear, aggression and pumping adrenaline were intoxicating. However, despite the fact that he was used to being a part of that rush, he had to stand apart from it now. Control and the guidance of the Force would have to replace camaraderie now, he supposed.

Jacen was forced to stop for a moment and take a knee. The volume of blaster fire intensified suddenly and he found he could no longer protect himself. Even a Jedi Master, even one that studied defensive forms, was vulnerable to concentrated fire. Jacen was no Master. On one knee, his exposed area was smaller and much easier to defend. He figured the defenders were just firing at the light of his saber through the smoke, but if they were shooting at him, they weren't shooting at the marines advancing down the corridor with absolutely no cover.

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick and Chuka moved forward through the ship, he could hear the muffled sounds of explosions somewhere else on the ship and hoped that the good guys were winning. He held the rifle across his body, barrel pointed down, but ready to be snapped up the moment it was needed. He glanced back quickly and he saw that the Cathar was right behind him exactly where she was supposed to be. He smirked slightly, she was doing everything she should be doing and her eyes never left her field of fire. They moved forward until they came to a T-intersection, with their hallway ending and splitting off to the left and the right.

They stopped and he turned to look at her." Which way looks good to you?" He sighed and looked at both directions and wasn't sure which way the fun was at.

" Chief Rawnuka said we push until we it's not safe. We can't cover both directions at once." Chuka replied, her face scrunched up in a frown.

He chuckled at her and took a single step forward. He could hear the gunfire and action more clearly to the left, so he figured it was the best way to go. " We're going left. If you want to run back to the Chief, then I'll go it alone, but there's a fight down this hallway and I want some payback." He didn't wait for her to reply He began ot move forward down the left hallway. " Put yourself at my back, just a foot off of it, take your left hand, the one not holding the trigger and place it on my hip. Go ahead, I don't bite. Now I'm going to move very slowly down the hallway, if I feel your hand come off my hip, I'll stop, if you feel me stop, then you stop." He didn't wait for her to reply that she understood, he knew that she was good enough to follow his directions.

together they moved down the hallway, towards the sounds of fighting, one slow step at a time. Her words the only sound they made, " If you get me shot, I'm gonna kick your shebs."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Jarin Eldaro"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="jacen voidstalker"]


Jarin saw Jacen take a knee as the blaster fire increased. All of it was focused on the Jedi, who looked to be having some trouble with the sheer volume of it.

"Fire team Aurek, orderly advance by ones. Stick to the bulkhead on the right. Fire team Besh go prone behind the Jedi, provide him some supporting fire. Fire team Cresh you are rearguard." Jarin spit out the orders on rapid fire, knowing that his soldiers would comply with expediency. He motioned for the final fire team, Dorn, to stick with him on the left most wall. Both Aurek and Dorn advanced by ones, meaning that the majority of the team laid down suppressing fire while the rearmost moved to the front. They would repeat this down the hall.

They passed the Jedi's position, the enemy troops still focusing fire on the Jedi. Return fire from team Besh was more orderly, they were taking single shots at the enemy whenever one popped his or her head into view. Teams Aurek and Dorn advanced along the corridor about three quarters of the way to the intersection where the enemy troops were taking cover and firing on the Jedi. The moment that either team had visual contact with the enemy, they would go to a knee or prone depending on their position and take the enemy under heavy fire. Jarin and the leader of team Aurek pulled, armed and threw grenades down the opposite corridor from one another. The grenades passed each other in the air, then bounced down the hallways. The resulting explosions made the blaster fire slacken, and with a nod from Jarin both teams of advance troops stormed the hallways. The first soldiers into the intersection took a knee next to the near corners and leaned around, firing into the hallway at the survivors of the explosion, the second went prone beside the first, covering for the third and fourth to make it across the intersection. Three took the far corner and laid fire on the enemy, Four took a knee and faced down the hallway going in the direction that the soldiers had initially been going, ready for more enemy troops. Jarin motioned for the Jedi and other teams to move up while the two teams had the intersection suppressed.

(Writer Post Count: 6)

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was sure the miscreants weren’t going anywhere so set off in the general direction of the first of her allocated explosives. She was only half way there when she heard Uri’s voice over her communicator.

Well one down was better than none down, but she needed to get a move on. So she picked up the pace and once she’d reached the general region allowed herself to sense with the Force. Sure enough, there it was. She walked over and checked it out. It was as simple as turning a switch to the off position. Except it was under a grating and the grating had been locked.

With a snap-hiss, her saber was activated and she made short-work of the metal. Flicking the switch and deactivating her saber in quick succession, she checked the time. They were cutting it close – but they could do it.

“Uri? Make that two down, I’m heading for my final one now. Let’s get a wiggle on, right?”

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

The veteran was grateful for the reprieve when the marines accelerated their efficient assault on the enemy. He'd never been on the battlefield as a Jedi before, never tested his limits at a time when failure would cost him everything. He counted a lucky man indeed to have found them and come out with barely a scratch.

It was difficult not to let the adrenaline flow, to take that fear and turn it into exhilaration. Instead he let it wash over him, and honed his focus to an incredibly sharp point.

Taking his cue, he rounded the corner. Without the cover of smoke grenades, he took action to avoid being overwhelmed again. A simple push was within his capabilities and the telekinetic wave sent two kneeling soldiers sprawling.

"Fall back to the next blast doors!" came a cry.
One of the defenders cross the corridor to try and pull one of his downed colleagues to safety, but Jacen put on a burst of speed to meet him.

The saber came up in a high block, smoothly transition down to deflect a second bolt and then came back around in a wide strike. There was little more than a yelp before the soldier fell back. His armour had done little to stop the path of the saber, which left a scorched diagonal mark through his chest. Deep through his chest.

Jacen halted his advance, deflecting further blaster bolts automatically. That was his first kill with a saber. Twice in his decade spanning career as a soldier had he been forced to use a bayonet, both times he had required counselling to recover. Now a soldier, barely out of his teens lay at his feet and he felt... Nothing.
[member="Jarin Eldaro"][member="Orick T'ane"]

 

[Travot Ravenna]

"Travot, these things happen," said Tens, "it's the nature of combat. It was his grenade after all. It was you and us, or him. You chose us, and that was right call to make. I don't regret it, and neither should you."

Ravenna slowly nodded, eying the charred body laying in front of him. He couldn't even make out its race, but it's humanoid form still haunted him. There were two other bodies in the foyer, both with blaster wounds to their chest and arms. Yet they seemed oddly serene to the susevfian. He ripped his eyes from them to stare back at Tens.

"So what's next?"

Tens glanced at everyone, "Is everyone green on ammo?"

A murmurs of affirmation swept through the room. Tens looked at the doors in the foyer. One of the was much larger than the others, while the other one was smaller and off to the side. The petty officer nodded at the smaller door.

"Let's see what that is, it looks like a maintenance tunnel for droids to me, but we should take a look before pressing forward. Kyrns, on me. Everyone else, get out of the funnel."

The group of troops pressed themselves up against the walls perpendicular to the small door. Kyrns stood on one side of the door, while Tens came to swing the door open. The sailor swung the door open to reveal a caved in corridor. What from they could see, it was too small for most normal humans. Tens turned his attention back to the group.

"This doesn't look like it's going to be a problem," said Tens, "let's go forward. Ravenna, are you still good to take point?"

He hesitated, "Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Ravenna nodded again.

"All right," said Tens, "it shouldn't be much farther to the base's reactors. We're almost done guys. Let's move out."

 

[Sabena Shai]

[member="Jarin Eldaro"] gave the signal. Sabena - having visible signs of fatigue - followed the rest of her comrades as they moved forward. The marines excelled at providing suppressive fire - giving Sabena and other Jedi, such as [member="Jacen Voidstalker"], much needed reprieve from the enemy’s heavy fire.

Sabena managed to keep up with Jacen’s pace - standing a few meters to the side and away from the tip of his lightsaber. As Jacen deflected a torrent of blaster fire, Sabena was fortunate enough to not have many blaster shots heading her way. She had a petite body - making her a small target. For the few shots that would have definitely hit her, Sabena was quick to bat them aside with a green lightsaber blade.

A seemingly young soldier fell before Sabena’s eyes - his chest pierced by a blaster bolt that Jacen deflected. Sabena stepped back for just a moment at the sight. Her attention quickly returned to the enemies in front of her - who seemed to be performing a tactical retreat.

The corner of Sabena’s right eye twitched as Jarin’s group continued to push the hostile force back. Her eyes wondered to the side, then up to the ceiling.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” she muttered.

[member="Orick T'ane"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] [member="orick t'ane"]

Jarin's soldiers pushed the enemy back from the intersection and bottled them up in adjoining corridors. A team of combat engineers had come up and dismantled the first blast door, bringing pieces of it into the corridors immediately connected to the intersection and welded them into places along the corridor perpendicular to the bulkheads. Thus the soldiers were provided fall back positions in the case of an enemy counter-attack.

Jarin left the front line of the attack and moved down the hallway to [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] and [member="Sabena Shai"]. He pulled off his helmet and held it in the crook of his arm as he strode to them, stopping within easy talking distance. The scars on the right side of his head and face almost glowed, as they were white against his otherwise flushed skin. Combat helmets were warm when not pressing an attack.

"Sir. Ma'am." Jarin was old hat with referring to Jedi as superiors, even padawans were often treated as having significant command ran, and Jarin was only a Lieutenant at the moment. The fact that he had made lieutenant after working his way up the majority of enlisted ranks was beside the point. "What is the objective here? I can have engineers plant charges all along these corridors and we can blow this rock and everyone in it, or we can continue to sweep through it room by room. I don't know the likelihood of taking prisoners, but on your say so we can try it."

(Writer Post Count: 7)

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Jarin Eldaro"] [member="Sabena Shai"]
Jacen thought on that for a moment. The image of the boy lying face up on the deck was sticking with him vividly. It was mostly because in his centred state, no emotion was attached to that memory at all. It was both confusing and distressing. Was this what it was to be Jedi? Cold?

He turned to the soldier. "Lieutenant, this is still, technically, a civilian ship. Hem them in where necessary, but we make our way to the bridge with as little collateral as possible. Call your superiors and request they try a new negotiation. They may be more compliant now," he said, without knowledge of the situation in the cargo bay.

He turned to the other Jedi and offered a quick "thank you." He took a swig of water, blaster fire still ringing in the distance. He'd been giving orders from just behind the front lines so many times now, that this seemed completely mundane.

"What's the quickest route to the bridge now? We'll cut a path." he asked, having lost his original sense of direction in the narrow corridors.

 

[Sabena Shai]

As soon as [member="Jarin Eldaro"] spoke to Sabena, she stood up straight - alert and focused on the Lieutenant. She intently listened to the seasoned man. Then as [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] spoke, she turned to her peer and listened to his suggestions. Her eyes only glanced specifically at Jarin's scars a couple times as the soldier spoke.

“I agree,” she said in regards to what Jacen suggested just after he spoke.

When Jacen asked what the quickest route toward the bridge was, Sabena placed her left hand’s fingertips on the temple of her head. She stood still for a few moments - concentrating.

After several seconds, she looked up to Jacen and Jarin and told them, “This way.”

Then, she began to run off toward the bridge - hopefully with Jarin, Jacen, and a few others in tow.

 

[Orick T'ane]

Orick and Chuka moved forward for slowly, they were being cautious because they had no idea how bad thing would be. There was another hallway coming up and it looked like it split left and right again. " How big is this kriffing ship" he said as they moved forward. He could still feel Chuka's hand on his hip, which meant that no one had come from behind them. "We have another split coming up." He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at the Cathar.

" Do you think we've done enough, sir?" She knew he held no military rank, but she was still supposed to be respected, and her training wouldn't let her forget it

" I think we need to go at least to the.." He never got to finish as he saw several figures running by the opening. Tow of them clearly carrying lightsabers. " Well Kriff me, we found the other boarding parties. Lets go link up with them" He wasted little time before he was of and jogging down the hallway He had just turned to corner with Chuka at his back and he almost fell over dodging a blaster bolt that was aimed at him." HEY!, we're Republic. Friendlies, you moron." He fumed as he stood back up, giving the marine at the rear of the small group a death stare before continuing. " We're with the other assault group. We got ambushed and there's a bunch of wounded. Also, the ship is wired to blow. " He said hoping that the point had gotten across.

[member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] [member="Jarin Eldaro"]

 

[H3xle]

“This way.”

Jarin nodded and motioned with his hand. Troopers fell in ahead of the young girl, shielding her from anything they ran into. Several more troopers brought up the rear as Jarin moved with [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] after [member="Sabena Shai"]. Jarin pulled his helmet on and quickly called out to the nearest ship ([member="gir quee"]) and requested that a diplomatic solution be attempted again. He gave them the sit rep of where they are and the plan going forward. He also left the channel open, in case the brass felt a response was necessary. They were just passing an intersection when he heard a weapon go off behind him, followed by a shout. Jarin spun and aimed his rifle down the hallway, his HUD taking a moment to identify the two people coming up.

" HEY!, we're Republic. Friendlies, you moron." He fumed as he stood back up, giving the marine at the rear of the small group a death stare before continuing. " We're with the other assault group. We got ambushed and there's a bunch of wounded. Also, the ship is wired to blow. " He said hoping that the point had gotten across.

Jarin intercepted [member="Orick T'ane"] and held a hand out to stop him.

"You say you were ambushed, yet you blame my man for firing at some unknown running towards us?" Jarin wasn't really angry, no one was hurt and his trooper would be spoken to in private later on. You always made sure what you were shooting at. Ignoring his own question, Jarin motioned the two after them. "We're heading to the bridge as we speak. The rest of my troopers have some unfriendlies penned up back the way we came. Command is going to try to issue a surrender order again. Seeing as we've cut this far in, the smart move would be to give up." He motioned to two of his troopers bringing up the rear, "If you'd like I can have these two go collect your wounded and bring them back to either the ship or the intersection we cleared back there. Your call."

(Writer Post Count: 8)

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri moved on to his last as well arriving at the quadrant around the same time as he got his master's message over the comm, "Right." He quickly replied putting the comm away. Two left. one for each of them. He searched around for the last bomb allowing himself a little bit of reliance on the force. He was still sheepish about that. He searched most of the area already and hadn't found it yet. Anyone else probably would have been frustrated. Uri possessed quite a bit of patience however and remained calm despite the obvious stress about the situation. If he were the bomb where would he be?

He looked around hoping it was hiding in plain sight. Then he felt the sudden urge to look down. He lowered himself to the ground then looked under the conveyer belts. As if a child playing hide-and-seek, there it was at the end of the table. He stood back up then took of with a sprint to the end of the line sliding across the ground at the end. He moved his hand hitting the switch on the bomb as he came to a halt. He probably got his robes dirty but he didn't care. He chuckled to himself laying his head on the ground. He took the comm back out, "Number three disarmed."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]